This Norman (or Viking) axe man holds a Danish style battle axe. Vikings were also called ‘Norman’ — men of the north — by the Dark Ages French. A large group of Vikings occupied and settled on the north-western coast of France in what became Normandy. This is the region from which many of the French settlers to New France came in the 17th century. It is also where the Canadian Army landed on D-Day on 6 June 1944. Print after Viollet-Leduc from the Bayeux tapestry.

In the early years of the 11th century, the first Europeans to set foot in North America arrived on the shores of modern day L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. These Scandinavians, collectively known as the Norse, had travelled west from their colonies in Iceland and Greenland. They had not come to raid, but to cut timber, hunt and explore the unknown wilderness they called Vinland.

This view was conceived during the 1930s by historical artist Fergus Kyle (1876-1941). Although we now know that Viking helmets did not have horns, as shown here and in countless other images in popular art, most of the other details shown give a relatively realistic impression of what such a settlement might look like. The Vikings also could build timber houses as well as ones made of earth.

The early accounts of Viking discoveries, including their discovery of North America, come to us from the sagas ; ancient Norse stories that were told by word of mouth for many years, and later written down for future generations to read. (The earliest written version of the sagas dates back to the twelfth century.) The beginning of the Vikings' movement westward toward North America can be traced by reading in the Sagas of the sea voyages of Erik the Red and Bjarni Herjolfsson.

This Norman (or Viking) warrior wears the typical ‘Norman’ type helmet with its nose guard and a coat of mail. Vestiges of chain mail have been found in the Canadian Arctic. Print after Viollet-Leduc from the Bayeux tapestry.